Paul O’Brien looks at the February sales figures for Marvel books, and finds himself surprised by a couple of things, including X-Force being the #1 book for the month:
Didn’t see that one coming, to be honest. Aside from the fact that I was expecting FANTASTIC FOUR to top the chart, I had this book figured for the lower end of the top ten. But apparently “Messiah Complex” did a better job of promoting this new series than I gave it credit for, and the variant covers don’t hurt…
I realise it may seem a bit churlish to say that [the Millar/Hitch Fantastic Four] has underperformed when its sales have almost doubled. But with Millar and Hitch, I kind of expected a number one placing. I certainly thought they’d break the 100K mark. Remember, February is a quiet month. If this had come out in January, then sales of 92,654 would have seen it place at number 13, just below MIGHTY AVENGERS #7. And this is the first issue with the new creative team, which means it’s probably going to drop next month.
So either there’s something odd going on here or this isn’t set to be a top ten book. And since there’s nothing else odd about the chart, I’m assuming the latter. That’s some way below my expectations when it comes to a new project by the creators of ULTIMATES.
It’s not all bad news for Millar, mind you; Kick Ass became the top-selling Icon book with its launch issue.
April 2nd, 2008 at 2:18 pm
I think the fact that Millar and Hitch took over an existing title might be the reason sales aren’t meeting expectations (although they’re still good, mind you). If FF was canceled and relaunched as, I don’t know, Really Mega Freakin’ Fantastic Four #1 it would have been more of an “event” and garnered more sales. There’s a reason why Marvel canceled and relaunched She-Hulk and Runaways a few years ago.
April 2nd, 2008 at 3:28 pm
That and, when isn’t FF a hard sell?
The first issue was mediocre, I was underwhelmed by the art and coloring and plot…not up to anyones usual level of quality, honestly…then bam, second issue was perfect…Hitch’s art for whatever reason jumped leaps and bounds, as well as the dialogue, the plot-small scenes etc. Was almost Ultimates level quality…the scene with Johnny and the villian were perfect, something that, most likely, should happen a lot more, lol.
This is a very good book that suffered first issue syndrome…much like Waid’s less than stellar 25 cent intro issue did.
I don’t think the Thing, Reed, or Johnny have ever been written better, than in this issue.